Photography

Chapter 7

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Jane and Louise Wilson. The Silence Is Twice as Fast Backwards I. 2008. 72″ square.

Evolution of Photography

• Photography literally means light writing

• The concept of the camera started with the camera obscura– Camera obscura literally means dark room– A box or room with a small hole projects

what is outside– Originally used to assist with drawing

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Evolution of the Camera Obscura. Sixteenth-century camera obscura.

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Evolution of the Camera Obscura. Seventeenth-century portable camera obscura.

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Evolution of the Camera Obscura. Seventeenth- to nineteenth-century table model camera obscura.

The First Photograph

• Made by Joseph Nicephore Niepce– He used a camera obscura – He sensitized a pewter metal plate– It took eight hours to expose the photo

The “Invention” of Photography

• There is much debate about who invented the process we know as photography

• Some think Daguerre, others Talbot

Jacque Mande Daguerre

• Created the process known as Daguerrotypes

• Involved highly toxic chemicals such as mercury

• Has a highly metallic finish

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Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre. Le Boulevard du Temple. 1839.

William Henry Fox Talbot

• Created the salt print– He coated paper with salt and silver nitrate– This darkens as it exposes to light

Potraits and Photography

• Before photography, painting was the only way to have a portrait made– Only the very rich could afford this

• With the invention of photography, many people could now afford portraits

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Julia Margaret Cameron. Julia Jackson. March 1886. 13-1/4″ × 11″.

Photography as an Art Form

• The public was reluctant to label photography as an art form and to this day, many people have doubt as to whether it is an art form

• Photography, contrary to some opinions, can be extremely expressive and creative

Henri Cartier Bresson

• Invented the idea of “the decisive moment”– Decisive moment: that one moment when

you are looking through your viewfinder and all the elements come together to create the perfect photography

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Henri Cartier-Bresson. Place de l'Europe Behind the Gare St. Lazare, Paris. 1932.

Photography and Social Change

• Photography is uniquely suited to documentary work

• From the very beginning photographers used the medium to show others what they could not see for themselves

• These photographers find it very important to spread awareness and affect change

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Jacob Riis. Five Cents a Spot. Unauthorized lodging in Bayard Street Tenement. c. 1890.

6-3/16″ × 4-3/4″.

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Margaret Bourke-White. Louisville Flood Victims. 1938.

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Ansel Adams. Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park, California. 1944.

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Gary Braasch. Polar Bear Outside Barrow, Alaska. 2008.

Color Photography

• Color photography was looked down upon by art photographers for many years

• In 1976, William Eggleston exhibited his color photographs of everyday objects– He got horrible reviews – He is now considered a pioneer in color

photography as art

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William Eggleston. Untitled (Nehi Bottle on Car Hood). From Los Alamos Portfolio. 1965–1974.

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Binh Danh. Iridescence of Life #7. 2008.14″ × 11″ × 2″.